Wednesday is the first day of early voting for the March 5 Presidential Preference Primary and County Primary Elections in Tennessee.
“Early voting begins on Valentine’s Day, and we want to remind voters our robust early voting period provides Tennesseans with a convenient way to make their voices heard,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said in a statement.
State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said casting a vote during the early voting period will allow registered voters to “likely experience shorter wait times at polling locations.”
“Early voting is an easy way for all registered Tennesseans to cast their ballots before the March 5 Presidential Preference Primary,” Goins said in a statement. “Registered Tennesseans will likely experience shorter wait times at polling locations during early voting; therefore, we encourage them to cast a ballot early.”
Early voting runs through February 27, which is also the last day to request an absentee ballot.
March 5 is the deadline for absentee mail-in ballots.
According to the Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard, Tennessee has consistently led the nation in maintaining the most secure elections.
The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard grades the election laws and procedures of all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to 47 best-practice criteria developed in consultation with trusted election experts. The think tank launched the tool in 2021.
Tennessee’s current score is 88 out of 100 – the highest in the nation. The scorecard is regularly updated as states make reforms and changes to their election laws.
A photo identification is required for Tennessee voters to cast their ballots. Licenses, state IDs, or federal photo identification from the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security are acceptable, even if they have expired. Student IDs or out-of-state driver’s licenses are not considered photo identification when voting.
Tennessee voters can call the Secretary of State’s Division of Elections’ toll-free Official Election Hotline at 1-877-850-4959 or text ‘TN’ to 45995 to report voting issues or get answers to early voting and Election Day questions.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
